Second CDNA Minisymposium on DNA Nanotechnology

Durham, NC | Posted on March 19th, 2009

Structural DNA nanotechnology employs DNA as a building material for the fabrication of micron-scale objects with nanometer-scale feature resolution. Self-assembling DNA nanostructures have been used to organize a wide variety of other nano-materials with diverse biological, electronic, photonic, and chemical functionalities. Distinguished speakers at this symposium include the father of the field of DNA nanotech, the inventors of PNA & LNA, and the directors of two academic centers.

The Centre for DNA Nanotechnology (CDNA) is a Danish national center of excellence located at Aarhus University (Denmark). The US members of the CDNA, Prof. Thom LaBean (Duke) and Prof. Hao Yan (Arizona State), have invited the Danish centre members to hold this symposium at Duke to increase public awareness of this field. Funding for this CDNA minisymposium has been provided by the Danish National Research Foundation.

About Duke University “The mission of Duke University is to provide a superior liberal education to undergraduate students, attending not only to their intellectual growth but also to their development as adults committed to high ethical standards and full participation as leaders in their communities; to prepare future members of the learned professions for lives of skilled and ethical service by providing excellent graduate and professional education; to advance the frontiers of knowledge and contribute boldly to the international community of scholarship; to promote an intellectual environment built on a commitment to free and open inquiry; to help those who suffer, cure disease, and promote health, through sophisticated medical research and thoughtful patient care; to provide wide ranging educational opportunities, on and beyond our campuses, for traditional students, active professionals and life-long learners using the power of information technologies; and to promote a deep appreciation for the range of human difference and potential, a sense of the obligations and rewards of citizenship, and a commitment to learning, freedom and truth.

“By pursuing these objectives with vision and integrity, Duke University seeks to engage the mind, elevate the spirit, and stimulate the best effort of all who are associated with the University; to contribute in diverse ways to the local community, the state, the nation and the world; and to attain and maintain a place of real leadership in all that we do.”